How did the Second World War effect life in wartime Britain?

Extracts from this document...

Introduction

How did the Second World War effect life in wartime Britain? The war that changed the world began on the 3rd of September 1939 and lasted six long years. During this time it took the lives of over forty million people including 20 million civilians, never has a single war before or since claimed so many lives. In the Battle of Britain forty thousand people were killed if operation sealion had been carried out many more would have perished. This war was truly a world war, battles raged not just in Europe but also in Africa, Asia and in North America. This war left many cities including most of Eastern Europe in ruins and created a rift between East and West that only officially ended at the fall of the USSR in 1989, but I believe it is still going on. Many people at the time put the blame squarely on the German leader Adolph Hitler who is now forever associated with evil and spoken of with hatred. His Nazi party had almost completely indoctrinated Germany with their ideas such as the Aryan race theory. They had made Hitler into a God like figure who they would die for without a word. The Nazis had achieved this through a revolutionary form of politics master minded by Joseph Gobles, which was propaganda. The streets of Germany were overflowing with Nazi posters, every building waved the swastika and every radio simultaneously played Hitler's speech. ...read more.

Middle

Also I know that 40,000 people were killed so this meant that there was a constant threat of death for the citizens to deal with. Source A4 shows us first hand experience of the carnage caused by a single bomb; Londoners will have heard these stories and would be very scared. Other effects that caused suffering to the people of London is that 1.5 million children had to be evacuated to the countryside for their safety in Operation Pied Piper. Also with many of the men away from their homes the birth rate decreased. Another effect was rationing when food was limited to British citizens, as food could not come in and a lot of it went to the army. The Blitz caused suffering also in every day life as people had to carry gas masks everywhere in case of gas bombs. Source A2 (i) and (ii) how people could not be safe in there own homes and had to find shelter elsewhere. From my own knowledge I know that Anderson shelter were cramped and often damp. The London Underground was ill equipped to house the refugees, as even basic needs such as toilets were not provided. These are some of the ways the people of London have suffered. SECTION B 1. The difference between Source B1 (i) and B1 (ii) is that one working class boy found life much better living in the country side as he had for the first time tools of hygiene that we take for granted. ...read more.

Conclusion

'Some workers, doing heavy jobs like mining or steel-making, did not get enough food' Source C5. I know that the weekly amount is just below the amount of calories an adult man has in seven days and men working in heavy manual labour will need much more food. 'The worst aspect of rationing, for most people was that it made life even more of a struggle, even more tedious'. From the ration list I know that there was no variety thus making cooking very boring as new recipes were running out. 5. There were many changes forced upon to the British public during the war to get much needed supplies to the front. These changes were enforced by the laws and the police, as they became a priority for the government. Children had to be evacuated out of the major cities as they were targeted by the German air force. This cased a lot of heart ache as we read from many Sources, many children had no idea were very unhealthy as a result of this. Also all men from 18 to 40 was conscripted to the army this meant that they would not see their families for many years. There were some good changes like women getting a higher social standing and more freedom to do what they want. With women conscripted in organisations they became more independent as they had jobs. Another unlikely good change was for some working class people who became healthier as a result of rationing. Farhat Hasan History Coursework ...read more.

The above preview is unformatted text

This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE History Projects section.

Related GCSE History Projects essays

The expectation was that enclosed sewers would remove the stink, and this then reduced the occurrence of cholera. Bazalgette's solution was to construct 83 miles of underground brick main sewers to intercept sewage outflows, and 1,100 miles of street sewers, to intercept the raw sewage which up until then flowed freely through the streets and thoroughfares of London.

It was voluntary, and was also there for morale in the war. This source is reliable because it's a specialist book about world war two. However, it's unreliable because this book isn't just about the "Dad's Army." This source has been researched into and has been done by historians so it has balanced viewpoints.

Let 'Dig for Victory' be the motto of everyone with a garden." This is a very useful and reliable source of evidence which informs us about the Dig for Victory campaign. As the quote comes from the government Minister for Agriculture, we can award it integrity and reliability.

But his government contained a mixture of men with different political beliefs. He changed a lot of peoples believe with his great oral speeches and to get support from the Roman Catholic Church religious education was made compulsory in all elementary schools8.

Gandhi strongly believed in civil obedience, and this was his main priority. Keeping civilised would show a great deal of integrity and decency towards the Indians because if the British had done anything harmful towards the Indians, the British would look somewhat like the terrible and unjust people.

Chief symptoms of the disease were headaches, skin rashes, inflamed eyes and leg pains. Despite such widespread symptoms (which resembled typhoid and influenza) the condition was not itself particularly serious, with patients recovering after some five or six days although extended hospitalisation amounting to several weeks was common.

also asked the nations of the world to come together to fight what he called ?common enemies of man, tyranny, disease, poverty and war itself.? This speech made Kennedy?s plans for a new domestic and foreign policies and his confidence in them clear.

The movie starts out when there were problems between Serbia and Austria-Hungary over an assassination of an Austria-Hungarian important historical figure by a young Slavic man. World War broke out. This is the beginning setting of the movie, "All Quiet on the Western Front."